Astronomy Lessons on the Moon
by Gemna
Summary: Memories within memories. Set in the Silver Millennium. A prequel of sorts to Astronomy Lessons at Hikawa Shrine.


**Astronomy Lessons on the Moon**

The blue glow of the Earth was reflected in the silvery waters of the lunar Sea of Serenity. Stars danced on the surface around it as waves crashed against the sandy shore.

Minako, Princess of Venus, barely noticed the beauty of her surroundings as she walked. She was troubled. She didn't care for the sensation at all. Far better to be carefree and enjoy life. Forget things.

Denial was not nearly so blissful as ignorance.

She finally slumped down onto the powdery sand with an agitated sigh and gazed upwards. A few shooting stars blazed past. Lying back, she closed her eyes to make a wish. She knew precisely what she wanted, but how to go about obtaining it?

"Venus?"

The princess opened one eye at the sound of the voice, admonishing herself for being followed without her notice. "That isn't my name, Reiko."

"Nor is mine 'Reiko', Minako." The princess of Mars smirked. "May I join you?"

"If you like. Rei."

Rei knelt and sat cross-legged, staring out at the water. Though her expression was neutral, her eyes held a flicker of delight. Minako rolled to one side and propped her head up on her hand, glancing between Rei and the water, trying to see what she found so interesting.

"Reiko?" Minako smothered a laugh as the delight was replaced by irritation. "What are you looking at?"

"I should never have told you that old nickname," she grumbled. "I'm just—watching the water. It's so fascinating. The way it moves, how it sounds... I never tire of seeing it. I suppose spending most of my life in a desert has something to do with that."

Minako felt a familiar tremor in the region of her stomach as Rei spoke. She tried to push it away. Of all the people to have followed her. In fairness, she _had_ made that wish... She sighed again, letting her mind wander.

O~O~O

The Princess of Mars had unwittingly captivated Minako from the moment they had met.

As a child of Venus, planet of love and beauty, Minako was used to having admirers, but rarely did any hold her interest. Besides, she had spent most of her life in the Moon Kingdom, being raised with the knowledge of her eventual mission to protect its Princess, Serenity, at all costs. It had been quite simple to bury herself in her studies and ignore any suitors, but her prowess and hard work led to the unfortunate side-effect of being named the leader of the Princess' band of personal soldiers—a responsibility she did not need or want. Despite her misgivings, she had accepted the post. It wasn't as though she had any choice in the matter. Admittedly, she knew the Moon Kingdom even better than most of its natives, she was rather smart, and deceptively strong. But to be in charge of the lives of others... It was a terrifying prospect. Minako's choices no longer affected her alone. She didn't like it.

Nor had she cared for the smouldering resentment emanating from the recently-arrived Princess of Mars. Minako could understand how the wildly unpredictable warrior felt—not that she ever would have admitted it. She was far too proud. Still, she felt it would have made far more sense to have a leader that had been raised in war than one who was raised in love. Especially when she was bested again and again on the training field by the beautiful, enigmatic Rei.

The Martian never gloated. Her eyes would hold a momentary gleam of triumph after every victory, before returning to their usual closed-off state. Little was known about the Princess, other than her affinity with fire, as well as her uncanny extra sense. She was fast becoming the bane of Minako's existence. But still more maddening was the Venusian's increasing desperation to know Rei better.

_Why_?

She couldn't begin to explain it.

It was after a particularly gruelling training session, where she had been all but humiliated by another defeat at Rei's hands, that Minako confided her worries to the shy, but extremely intelligent Princess of Mercury. Ami was a cunning strategist who could see the bigger picture in any situation. It regularly proved to be very useful, and her skills at controlling water had saved Minako from more than one bad burn caused by the Martian's attacks.

Minako wanted the Mercurian's perspective on the uncomfortable scenario.

"Just because she's a highly-skilled warrior, she doesn't automatically qualify as the prime candidate for our leader, Minako. Rei is headstrong, stubborn. She doesn't know when to quit. And her temper can, quite frankly, be terrifying." Ami cupped her hands and concentrated for a moment, then splashed the water that had formed in her palms onto her sweaty face. "She's reckless, uncommunicative..."

"And I'm not any of those things?" Minako challenged.

Ami reddened slightly. "W-well, um—"

"It's all right, Ami. I know what I am." She scowled. "So what makes us so different? Why me?"

"She's a Martian. You're Venusian."

Minako was confused. "What does that have to do with it?"

"Everything, Minako. Martians, they—live for the fight. They fight their way into life, and die on the field of battle if they can. To them, there's no higher honour."

"And Venusians?"

"They seek to end the fight. To love." Ami placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "That's why you're our leader." She disappeared towards her chambers, leaving behind a very bewildered Minako.

It was then that she thought of approaching Rei about sharing her command.

She and Rei could learn from one another. Become stronger together. But how to ask her? Minako had visions of being laughed at—or perhaps set ablaze by Rei's powers.

The question plagued her for weeks, until one night when walking along the sandy shore of the sea, she spotted the warrior sitting hunched-over, looking rather vulnerable. Her arms were wrapped tightly around her knees. She was shaking.

"Mars?"

Rei started violently and aimed such a baleful stare at Minako that it almost frightened her. But the tears she saw on the Martian's face kept her fear at bay.

"You're crying!"

Sneering, Rei swiped furiously at her damp cheeks. "I see the rumours of your intelligence were not exaggerated." She turned her gaze to the water.

Ignoring the barb, Minako lowered herself to the sand, staring at Rei in amazement. She had wondered if Rei even _could_ cry.

"What's wrong?"

Rei only narrowed her eyes, keeping her stare determinedly averted from Minako. Perhaps she hoped the Venusian would go away if she ignored her for long enough. With a frown, Minako reclined back on her arms and looked up at the stars. There were so many, twinkling brightly. Where was the one she always sought? She couldn't see it anywhere.

"I can never find Venus. I wonder sometimes if it's just gone." She remembered little of her home planet, having left it behind for the Moon when she was barely five years old. Only a golden palace, flashes of her long-dead family... She blinked back a few tears of her own.

"It's not the right time to see it from the Moon. It'll appear in another night or two. We'd have heard something if it was gone." Rei's voice was flat as she picked up a handful of sand, letting it drift through her fingers. "I—wonder the same about Mars sometimes."

Minako fought to control her delight about the fact that Rei was actually speaking civilly to her. She chose her next words carefully, not wanting to scare the Martian off.

"Is it up there now? Can—can you see it tonight, I mean?"

Wordlessly, Rei pointed to a vivid red star, not actually looking at it herself. Her jaw was tightly clenched. Suddenly Minako understood why she was so upset.

"You miss it."

Rei inhaled a long, deep breath and wiped her eyes again. She gave a single, jerky nod.

"I know how you feel."

The Martian finally deigned to look at Minako. "Really. You know what it's like to be forced to leave everything familiar behind, everyone you love, and know that you can never go back, that you'll never see any of it again?" Rei scoffed. "Don't patronize me—"

"At least you can remember what you left behind. I wasn't on Venus long enough for it to become familiar. I can barely recall my own mother," Minako snapped, sitting up.

Rei's eyes widened momentarily, and for a wild moment, Minako thought she was actually going to apologize. Abruptly she turned back to the sea. She was silent for several minutes.

"M-me neither. My mother, I mean. She died when I was little." She unwrapped her arms from around her knees, and leaned back on her hands. "But, apparently I look just like her."

There was a tiny, almost imperceptible smile on Rei's face.

"She must have been very beautiful then," Minako said sincerely.

Rei's eyes grew enormous at the remark. Frightened. Without warning, she stood up and dashed off.

Minako could have kicked herself. She had been too forward. Infuriated, she flopped backwards onto the sand, and stared at the distant, glowing orb that was Planet Mars.

The strangest sensation had started growing inside her at the sight of Rei's smile.

~ o ~ o ~

The next morning, Minako approached the training grounds with a feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach that increased with every step she took. She wasn't sure she could stand to see the coldness return to Mars' gaze after what she had glimpsed the previous night. Especially since that cold was likely to have increased after what she'd so foolishly blurted out. She shook her head and transformed, cloaking herself in the comforting light of her home world.

"Venus."

Minako spun around.

Rei was already there, transformed, and, from the looks of the flames dancing in her palms, prepared for battle. Minako had a feeling that this was more than mere practice for the other warrior. Rei was throwing down the gauntlet. Her eyes were not cold, as expected, but they were not friendly either. If anything, they still held the same gleam of fright.

Before she could dwell on it though, the Martian struck.

Not a moment too soon, Minako threw herself to the side, executing a flip that impressed even herself when she landed back on her feet.

Something felt different.

Rei quirked an eyebrow, readying another fireball. Minako gulped, not certain that she could manage the same feat twice. Her hand went to the chain at her hip, even though it had proven useless against Rei in the past. Sure enough, Rei dodged it easily, and made her next move. The chain went spinning through the air when it hit, leaving Minako defenseless, but for her light attacks. They too had proven useless against Rei. She fought the urge to scream.

They danced around one another on the field, Rei attacking as Minako dodged, feeling herself grow tired. She was beginning to sense defeat.

Then Rei smiled. A genuine, delighted smile.

She was so beautiful. Minako's heart began to pound.

The strange sensation returned and increased tenfold as it spread throughout the Venusian's entire body. Unconsciously, she raised her hands and pointed them at the Martian soldier.

A blinding, golden light burst from her palms, enveloping Rei completely. Minako watched, amazed as her opponent was forced to her knees, the fire she held extinguishing in a puff of smoke. Rei's frightened gaze met Minako's before she collapsed.

"Rei!" Minako dropped her arms and ran to the fallen soldier's side.

The Martian's eyes flickered open. She looked rather dazed as Minako helped her to sit up.

"I'm so sorry, Rei! Are you okay? I—I don't know what just happened—"

Rei didn't appear to be listening as her hand slowly rose to rest above her heart. From the look on her face, she seemed to be having some sort of epiphany.

Her eyes locked onto Minako's. "I understand now," she whispered, and got to her feet. "I see why they chose you."

She bowed respectfully to her leader and strode quickly away, detransforming as she left.

Minako made to follow her, but was ambushed by Makoto, the Princess of Jupiter, who had apparently been watching the most of battle and wanted to congratulate the Venusian for finally defeating Rei. None of them ever had before, even the formidable Jovian.

The Venusian begged off, feeling suddenly exhausted. Whatever happened had completely drained her of her energy, and she nearly passed out herself as she made her way back to her quarters to rest.

When she awoke hours later, a warm night had fallen. Through her open window, she could hear the distant waves of the sea. She quickly dressed herself in a sleeveless tunic and short trousers. Then, stepping barefoot onto her window's ledge, she lowered herself to the ground and moved quietly through the royal garden.

Once she was beyond the walls of the Crystal Palace, she broke into a run, desperate to clear her head. She couldn't stop thinking about what had happened earlier. Nor had the mysterious sensation faded. It was strangely intoxicating, yet at the same time, completely terrifying. Somehow it was connected to her powers. She shuddered, thankful that she hadn't hurt Rei, or worse.

Speaking of Rei...

Minako ground to a halt at the sight of the Martian princess sitting serenely on the shore. Her heart rate quickened. Before she could think about disappearing back the way she'd come, Rei turned and stared right at her. The coldness, the simmering anger was gone. There was something new in her gaze. Respect, perhaps. Admiration? The flare of fright appeared momentarily as well when Minako approached. That only confused Minako further. What did Rei have to fear from her?

Wordlessly, she sat down, perhaps a bit closer to Rei than she had dared the night before, and tried not to blush as the Martian continued to stare intently at her. Something had changed between them, though Minako could not begin to explain what, precisely.

Rei suddenly turned to the sky and pointed. "You can see Venus tonight if you want. It's always the brightest one."

Minako's lip trembled when she saw the golden point of light. The planet was still there—even if nothing else was. She pulled herself away as the corners of her eyes began to sting, and scanned the sky for the red gleam that was Mars.

"You can't see it tonight. It's very rare to see them together," Rei commented, apparently reading Minako's mind. "But right there, that's Neptune—"

They stayed there on the shore for much of the night, Rei pointing out stars and constellations. She was a very talented teacher, Minako noticed. Surprisingly patient when she was asked a question, her answers thorough, but easy to understand. Her enthusiasm was contagious, and Minako found herself asking if they might do the same thing the following evening.

The tiny smile returned as Rei nodded her assent.

~ o ~ o ~

Rei still remained as much of a mystery as ever. But she had changed. Had Minako not been watching her so closely, she might have missed it.

The Martian still openly challenged her at every turn, questioned every decision she made, forcing her to greatly increase the speed at which she would think and act. But the resentment was finally gone.

Bitter rivalry became an easy camraderie. As time passed, that camraderie grew into a genuine friendship, and Rei became her second in command.

Strangely, it had not been Ami or Makoto who challenged that decision, but Rei herself, when it was made. Briefly, the resentment had returned, but it was accompanied by something else. When Minako finally asked her why she was so against the appointment, Rei surprised her yet again.

As a Martian, it pained her to admit it, but she was afraid. For the very same reasons Minako had not wanted to be leader, Rei was afraid. But when Minako confessed that she'd had the very same concerns about herself, Rei stopped fighting the decision and settled into her new role.

"I still think it's funny that you didn't want to be my second," Minako said one night, quite some time later as they sat companionably on the shore. "I thought when we met that you wanted to be in charge."

Rei shifted awkwardly. "That's—that's because I did. At first, before I realized what it would mean. I couldn't understand why they'd choose some prissy little—sorry." She looked down, sheepish. "I wasn't raised by the, uh, most open-minded people."

"It's fine." Minako smirked. Rei was so different than when she'd first arrived on the moon that one would have been hard-pressed to recognize her. "Honestly, I wondered the same thing. Why they didn't choose you was beyond me. But it wasn't my place to question it."

"It wasn't mine either, but I still did. And I'm still sorry about that."

"That's two apologies in as many minutes. Who are you and what have you done with Rei?"

Rei elbowed Minako playfully and they both started laughing.

"Sometimes I seriously question your sanity. Putting the lives of others into my hands. Don't you know the mantra of the Martian soldier? It's 'Victory at Any Cost'. _Any_ cost, Venus—"

"Rei, I've told you before, call me Minako. And you don't need to worry so much. You're in charge only if something happens to me."

"I better not let anything happen to you then." Minako fought to keep her breathing even when Rei's eyes connected with hers.

"You better not."

Abruptly, Rei turned away and directed Minako's attention to the heavens, where a spectacular meteor shower had just started. She barely heard half of what Rei said, as her heart was fluttering like a butterfly, and she spent more time darting glances at the beautiful woman's profile than she did watching the sky.

It was then, as Rei told her a legend about wishes made on shooting stars always coming true, that Minako finally realized what the mysterious sensation plaguing her for so long was.

Love.

She had fallen in love.

With Rei.

~ o ~ o ~

The realization bothered her for ages. Minako struggled to keep it under control, but the more she tried to push her feelings away, the stronger they became. She was petrified that she would destroy the wonderful relationship she had with her second in command, her best friend. So, she did nothing.

Yet, there were moments that made Minako wonder if it was possible the Martian felt the same way.

With increasing frequency, Minako would catch Rei staring, always with the same unreadable look in her eyes, and always she would immediately look away, her cheeks aglow.

There were also the touches that easily could have been coincidences. A brush of hands when they walked side by side, removing something that was caught in a strand of hair, fingertips dusting a stray eyelash from a cheek...

Then, during their recent training, they had established that without using their attacks, Makoto was by far the strongest among them. Rei had suggested that the Jovian teach them her wrestling moves, so they would not be completely helpless if, for some reason, they could not summon their powers.

Minako had immediately latched onto the idea, as it made a great deal of sense. She had not realized that Rei might have had an ulterior motive until she found herself on the training field, being told by Makoto that her goal was to pin Rei to the ground.

Telling herself she was reading too much into things, Minako took her stance, and began circling Rei. She barely had time to blink before the Martian was on top of her, looking triumphant. But when their eyes met, Rei abruptly catapulted to her feet and spun around to challenge Makoto. She appeared rather shocked by how quickly she was defeated, her body held down by the Jovian's.

Minako fought to keep her jealousy in check as she watched.

Laughing, Makoto jumped up and crooked her finger at the very apprehensive Mercurian. Surprisingly, the match lasted for awhile, as Ami's small stature allowed her to move rather quickly and continually dodge Makoto's attempts to grab her. In the end though, the princess of Jupiter triumphed.

Loudly proclaiming that her victories made her leader for the day, having defeated Minako before pitting her against Rei, Makoto ordered everyone inside for lunch.

Rei's arm continually bumped into Minako's as they left the training grounds.

O~O~O

Her patience was wearing thin. Minako had waited for Rei to confess, make a move, or something. Anything. But more time passed and the Martian princess did not act.

Minako tried to bury her disappointment alongside of her other feelings, finally deciding that she had been imagining everything. Friendship would have to be enough, she told herself, her heart nearly breaking at the thought.

Unable to sleep yet again, she had made the short journey from her open window to the seashore, hoping her feelings of unrequited love might wash away with the tide.

Then Rei had appeared on the tail of her wish.

"Something's troubling you, Minako." Rei's statement pulled her from her reverie. "What's wrong?"

Feeling ill at ease, Minako sat up from where she reclined in the sand, and aimed her gaze at the water, trying to think of a plausible response. She decided to tell Rei the truth.

Gathering her courage, she turned to the Martian. But Rei was staring upward, open-mouthed in amazement.

"Minako. Look." Rei pointed at the stars. "Venus and Mars. I-I've never seen them so close together before."

The glowing planets winked down at them, side by side in the heavens. Minako's breath caught in her throat. The sight threatened to undo her. It couldn't possibly be another coincidence. She took a breath, trying to keep calm, wondering what to do, but then Rei's wrist brushed against her skin when she lowered her arm.

The wonderful, terrifying sensation, now ever-present in Minako whether Rei was nearby or not, flared to life and shattered the tightly-wound restraint that was her patience.

"Reiko."

Rei scowled and swiveled her gaze to meet Minako's. "Ven—"

Minako covered Rei's mouth with her own, desperate to learn the feel of the lips that so tormented her. She would finally know for certain how Rei felt about her, but she wanted to savour the incredible sensation first. Terror still clung to Minako at the possibility that this kiss might be the only one they had.

Reluctantly, she pulled away, needing to gauge Rei's reaction.

The Martian's eyes were wide.

Minako swallowed, petrified that Rei would run off as she had once when she'd been told she was beautiful.

Rei's sudden smile was incredible. "I-I was beginning to think I was just imagining things."

"Y—_you_—I—I thought—I—" Minako felt herself blushing. "I—it—"

Rei leaned forward and brought an end to Minako's embarrassed rambling. She was surprisingly gentle as her fingers caressed Minako's cheeks and deepened the kiss.

Minako's remaining fears evaporated. Their first kiss would not be the last. She wrapped her arms around Rei's waist and the two women fell back against the sand.

Nor would their next one be.

~O~O~O~O~

Thousands of years in the future, Aino Minako, Japan's number one pop idol, recently returned from a visit to Greece, stood watching the night sky on the terrace of her penthouse apartment. The bright lights of the city made it difficult to see any stars, save for a distant red one.

The memories were nothing new. They merely served as a painful reminder of what she so desperately wanted but did not have.

Sighing, she turned to go inside, but could not resist one last look at the faraway world.

Her heart skipped a beat as a shooting star streaked across it and vanished. She made a wish.

_Reiko._

Nodding resolutely at the planet Mars, she dashed inside her apartment to grab her jacket and a small photograph. Slamming the door behind her, she hurried down the stairs, and sprinted from her building in the direction of Hikawa Shrine.

She would finally know for certain how Rei felt about her.

~o~o~o~o~

**Author notes:** For those of you who feel as though I have cruelly and needlessly left you hanging with this ending, read _Astronomy Lessons at Hikawa Shrine_ and you shall hopefully feel better! ~ **G**


End file.
